5 Natural Products Brands Excelling at Ecommerce in 2024

Natural Products continue to be a top-selling category on eCommerce in 2024. While digital commerce presents challenges for all brands, Natural Products companies traverse unique hurdles.

Key considerations for Natural Products brands on ecommerce

Balancing with Brick & Mortar

Most leading Natural Products brands see ecommerce as slice of their business, and focus their efforts of brick & mortar sales. With distribution across retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, and independent grocery and supplement stores, ecommerce can feel like a relativel insignificant channel.

However, failing to invest proper efforts on eCommerce can lead to significant challenges across omnichannel sales. In particular, when marketplaces like Amazon offer a brand’s products under MAP pricing, brick and mortar sales decline, and relationships with trusted retailers can be damaged.

Expiration Dates

Most Natural Products brands offer products that expire. Managing distribution, demand planning, and supply chains for ecommerce, while being challenging, come naturally to most large Natural Products brands. However, when adding third-party sellers into the mix, these brands can begin to experience an uptick in expired product sales, returns, and dissatisfied customers.

Price Erosion

Natural Products brands need to compete not only with each other, but with shifting economic conditions and conventional (not-so-natural) products. Having an enforceable MAP policy and a strong relationship with retailers and distributors is critical for staying profitable and competitive as a Natural Products brand.

Channel Growth

Growing sales looks different on eCommerce compared to Brick and Mortar. The combination of seasonality, product trends, massive digital shelves, and the abundance of third-party sellers can make it difficult to not only grow your brand, but understand large sets of seemingly unattainable sales data.

Brands that are able to tackle these challenges can lay the foundation for success not only for eCommerce, but for omnichannel health and growth in the long term.

Natural Products brands that are excelling on eCommerce

CELSIUS – Natural Energy Drinks

As an up-and-coming energy drink brand, the market is saturated and competition is fierce. Through all the challenges, CELSIUS has quickly risen to the top as a consumer favorite, thanks in part to their eCommerce strategy.

• Strong channel growth, especially on Amazon – CELSIUS products currently have the #1 Best Seller badge for Grocery & Gourmet food.
• Wide availability – CELSIUS products are available in most major online retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, Kroger, and Sams Club.
• Strong control of distribution – marketplaces don’t have a large number of unauthorized sellers on CELSIUS products, and the few that are active aren’t selling at competitive prices.
• Great customer reviews – boasting 4.7 stars across over 90,000 reviews on their top product on Amazon, CELSIUS has captured the hearts and minds of energy drink shoppers.
• Leveraging subscriptions – CELSIUS currently offers customers who Subscribe & Save up to 15% discounts to encourage repeat purchases and brand loyalty.

In short, CELSIUS has made a fantastic product widely available to consumers – both online and in-store – for a consistent price.

Rainbow Light – Vitamins & Supplements

As a now-legacy player in the natural supplements category, Rainbow Light has leveraged eCommerce to push their brand presence to the next level.

• Consistent category dominance – Rainbow Light has retained their place as a leading mid-priced vitamin for years, challenging massive players like Nature Made and One a Day
• Smart assortment – with products pointed at different demographics and a variety of sizes, Rainbow Light has cracked the code on offering products people want at a variety of price points
• Controlled distribution – Rainbow Light has clearly invested in their distribution strategy for eCommerce, having a minimal number of unauthorized sellers both on marketplaces like Amazon and independent retailers. The result is consistent prices and strong shopper experience.
• Leveraging subscriptions – vitamins are a prime example of a perfect product for subscriptions. Customers experience convenience of getting their daily vitamins delivered monthly, while saving anywhere from 5% to 15%

RXBAR – Protein Bars

Launched in 2013, RXBAR rode the wave of shifting consumer health preferences to quickly rise to the upper-echelon of snack bars. Over the last decade, the company has solidified their position as a key player, using eCommerce as a significant tool in the toolkit.

• Trend-setting and trend-adoption – RXBAR has adjusted their product assortment over the years to offer low-ingredient, keto, and vegan products, taking risks and cutting new paths to stay on top.
• Ecommerce-specific packaging & bundles – while other brands sell the same products everywhere, RXBAR leveraged the difference in preferences online to offer unique variety packs and packaging designed for shipping (rather than store shelves).
• Competitive “official” pricing – RXBAR doesn’t have as strong of a hold on distribution as other brands on this list, but the unauthorized sales available on ecommerce marketplaces aren’t price-competitive, creating fewer issues than many brands in similar situations.
• Focus on ingredients – RXBAR’s “No B.S.” marketing strategy spoke to consumers in 2013, and still speaks to them today. With the ingredients printed in large block font directly on the wrapper, RXBAR can capture consumer attention on the digital shelf in a similar way to endcaps in stores.

MorningStar Farms – Vegan Alternatives

As a player in the frozen-foods category, it’s unlikely that MorningStar would make the cut for this list. As eCommerce has expanded beyond warehouses and semi-trucks, MorningStar has leveraged store-to-door programs with grace.

• Availability on eCommerce – with clear strategies for fresh-food delivery like Instacart, Kroger Boost, and Amazon Fresh, MorningStar was able to capture a new set of consumers.
• Trend adoption – to compete with major players like Impossible and Beyond, MorningStar has released new products like “Incogmeato,” and fully shifted from vegetarian to 100% vegan products in 2019.
• Hybrid strategy – using store freezers as warehouses, MorningStar has leveraged chains like Kroger, Safeway, Target, and more to ship products from store to door while simplifying their distribution network.
• Distribution management – as a primarily brick & mortar brand, MorningStar Farms has achieved very consistent pricing across all channels by keeping strong relationships with their retailer partners.

Fiber One – Bars & Cereals

Growing up, you may remember Fiber One as the tree-twig-adjacent cereal your parents filled the cabinet with – and as a kid, it didn’t hold a candle to Lucky Charms. Adapting to the times, Fiber One is now best known for their healthy, high-fiber snack bars – which are exceptionally popular with online shoppers.

• Strong placement – with the coveted “Overall Pick” badge on Amazon for “Fiber Bars,” Fiber One is a top pick for budget-conscious families that want to upgrade their mid-morning snack.
• Product innovation – beyond cereals and bars, Fiber One has adapted to offer cookies, cheesecakes, and brownies for consumers that want healthier alternatives – and advertise against their less-healthy competitors on eCommerce platforms
• Controlled distribution – with a minimal amount of unauthorized sellers, Fiber One can avoid price erosion, poor experiences, and expired products that are out of their hands.
• “Brand Defense” ads – with such a saturated category, Fiber One is actively bidding on their own branded keywords, making sure they’re not pushed out of their own consumers’ carts.

What should other brands do?

The one thing all the above brands have in common is a very strong, controlled distribution network. As a result, they experience consistent pricing, limited unauthorized sellers, and retention of both their eCommerce and brick & mortar shopping experiences.

Each brand is unique. However, nearly any Natural Products brand can benefit greatly from controlling their unauthorized sales, managing their distribution, and keeping an eye on their MAP violators.

For help with managing MAP violations and unauthorized sellers, schedule a Free Brand Assessment with POTOO.

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